Don’t Worry Darling ‘spitgate’ controversy
At the Venice Film Festival earlier last week, all eyes were on the cast of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling. The drama and extreme controversy surrounding the film eclipsed the film itself (which got notably middling to bad reviews), but then something truly baffling occurred. During the festival’s introduction of the cast, a video of Harry Styles and Chris Pine went viral and was analysed by nearly every person on the internet who could get their eyes on it. In the video, it looked as if international pop star Styles spit on movie star Pine. The absolute craziness of the video took over the pop culture zeitgeist to the point that the representatives for the pair even had to specify: no, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine.
D23 Expo highlights
The Disney conglomerate’s annual expo was in full force over the weekend, with two days of announcements for all the upcoming Disney IP. Notable announcements included the Marvel Studios panel, where Kevin Feige took to the stage to announce Thunderbolts (among others), set to star Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan as the beloved characters Yelena and Bucky. An all-star ensemble is set to join them. On the Dinsey+ front, a fourth season of the teen series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series was announced. However, it appears the show is simply staging a fourth High School Musical movie, as it will focus on the show’s students being part of a reunion taping with the original cast at their school. In live-action news, fans were treated to a first look at Halle Bailey’s Ariel singing ‘Part of Your World” in anticipation of the hyped 2023 adaption of The Little Mermaid. Another highlight was of the weekend was a teaser trailer for the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series coming to Disney+. The show is currently filming in Canada with breakouts Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri in the lead roles. Despite this teaser, it is unclear when the show will release at the present.
Venice Film Festival prizes
The prestigious 2022 Venice Film Festival came to a close this week, but not before handing out the award recipients, which are as follows:
Golden Lion:
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, dir: Laura Poitras
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize:
Saint Omer; dir: Alice Diop
Silver Lion Best Director:
Luca Guadagnino, Bones and All
Special Jury Prize:
No Bears, dir: Jafar Panahi
Best Screenplay:
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, Tar
Best Actor:
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress :
Taylor Russell, Bones And All
Best Film:
World War III; dir: Houman Seyidi
Best Director:
Vera; dirs: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Special Jury Prize:
Bread and Salt; dir: Damian Kocur
Best Actress:
Vera Gemma, Vera
Best Actor:
Mohsen Tanabandeh, World War III
Best Screenplay:
Fernando Guzzoni, Blanquita
Best Short Film:
Snow In September; dir: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film:
Saint Omer; dir: Alice Diop
Audience Award:
Nezouh, dir: Soudade Kaadan
Best Documentary:
Fragments of Paradise; dir: KD Davison
Best Restored Film:
Branded To Kill
Best Experience:
The Man Who Couldn’t Leave; dir: Chen Singing
Grand Jury Prize:
From the Main Square; dir: Pedro Harres
Special Jury Prize:
Eggscape; dir: German Heller
Festival season
Movie festival season is well and truly underway with Telluride Festival coming to a close and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) kicking off in Canada. The latter is one of the biggest on the festival circuit and big names have shown up to play their films to audiences for the first time – and perhaps start their Oscar campaign.
